‘Blood Rage’ is a Horny Slasher That Will Make Your Thanksgiving Seem Tame
Tyler Doupe'
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I should start with a disclaimer: Blood Rage isn’t a good film in the conventional sense. But in spite of that, it’s a surprisingly enjoyable slasher picture. This campy effort features sex-crazed characters and a family dynamic so utterly deranged that you may just realize your Thanksgiving situation isn’t quite as bad as you once thought.
At the drive-in (circa 1974) twin brothers Terry and Todd lay in the back of their mother’s station wagon, seemingly asleep. The matriarch sits in the front seat with her boyfriend, nervous at the sexy advances her paramour is making with the boys nearby. Suddenly, the youngsters make a break for it and all hell breaks loose. Terry, disturbed by his mother’s amorous entanglement, gets stabby and plants a hatchet in a moviegoer’s head. Oops. But wait, Terry points the finger at his brother Todd. This leaves his twin to take the fall for his murderous rage. As such, Todd is institutionalized with Terry free to kill again. Ten years later, Todd (Mark Soper) escapes captivity on Thanksgiving Day and Terry (also Mark Soper), again, chooses violence.
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Blood Rage feels like a cynical attempt to give drive-in theatergoers exactly what they wanted from a horror movie: copious amounts of graphic violence and plenty of bare flesh. And viewers get each of those in spades. We’re also treated to overzealous performances guaranteed to take the viewer right out of the picture. In fact, Louise Lasser is so over-the-top as Maddy, the mother of the twins, that she comes across like she’s in a soap opera. And considering the actress played the titular character on the campy soap, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, perhaps she was doing what came naturally.
In one particularly memorable scene, Maddy sits on the floor (in a dress) and shovels leftovers down her gullet (without the benefit of utensils). That sequence (along with many others) exists in an awkward space where it’s hard to discern if this was supposed to be comical. But I have a sneaking suspicion the cast was playing it straight. No matter the reasoning, Blood Rage is brimming with ‘so bad it’s good’ appeal.
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Whatever the inspiration for the outrageous and awkward performances may be, nearly all of the showings are hammed up to the level of high camp. But that only serves to make this bizarre effort all the more enjoyable to trash connoisseurs like myself.
In addition to overly enthusiastic performances, the film is also packed to the gills with cringe-inducing dialogue, awkward eye contact, and sex-crazed characters in need of constant copulation. And I don’t just mean to say these people have a healthy appetite for coitus. Oh no, the entire cast is of the mind that anytime is a good time for sexy time. Case in point: When Maddy is informed (in the middle of a Thanksgiving feast) that Todd has escaped from ‘school’ (read: the mental institution), her fiancé takes her to the bedroom and tries to sex her up. I’m all about different strokes for different folks but it’s hard to imagine anyone taking the news that their child has escaped a mental hospital as an aphrodisiac…
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But it doesn’t stop there, dead reader. No, it does not. Nearly every character in the film is singularly focused on sex. Terry’s girlfriend mistakenly throws herself at Todd while the new neighbor simultaneously throws herself at Terry. And who could forget the neighbor lady trying to seduce a man that could be a first cousin of Mister Rogers, only for him to get decapitated before the deal can be sealed. And that’s really only scratching the surface. Suffice to say, the people in this outlandish flick have a ravenous appetite for sexual congress.
Sexual escapades aside, this flick features an incredibly dysfunctional family dynamic that is more than likely to make you feel better about whatever fresh hell is on the holiday menu in your household. Accordingly, Blood Rage makes for a great seasonal watch. It’s campy, full of horny characters, and it serves to remind that no matter how bad your Thanksgiving, it could always be worse.
Categorized:Editorials
